456 



Mr. W. North. The Influence of 



the diet, not for experimental but entirely personal reasons, and I 

 have often done so. All that has been done [to any of the articles 

 which comprise my diet table is to remove the great bulk of the water, 

 and that in such a way as to produce no alteration in the food-stuff, 

 except in form. I think the figures prove beyond a doubt that the 

 food was exceedingly well digested. The only fault I have to find 

 with it is that there is so little indigestible material in it, that it fre- 

 quently caused slight constipation and irregularity of the bowels, 

 which somewhat interfered with the exactness of the experiment. 

 The sensations experienced after a meal of dried meat and vegetables 

 are, I think, worth recording. 



_ Immediately after the meal there was a sense of satisfaction ; this 

 was replaced in about an hour by a sense of hunger, sometimes very 

 marked ; and this gradually disappeared and gave place to the con- 

 sciousness that an amply sufficient meal had been taken. 



The Fluid Food. — Nothing in my experience is so difficult to regu- 

 late as the supply of fluids to the body during experiments of this 

 kind. Variations of external temperature, and a number of minor 

 circumstances over which we have little or no control, lead to the con- 

 sumption of drinks of various kinds at irregular times, which no 

 doubt have a very considerable effect upon the constitution of the 

 urine, if not upon the general metabolism of the body. No doubt the 

 strict regulation of the fluids consumed would tend in some degree to 

 increase the accuracy of the experiment, but it would at the same time 

 cause an amount of discomfort to the individual experimented upon, 

 which would in many cases, I think, counterbalance the supposed gain 

 in accuracy. 



Without any special effort on my part, I think I may say that my 

 fluid ingesta regulated themselves. The water used for making the 

 cocoa or the soup was practically a constant determined by the size of 

 the cooking vessels used. Besides the fluid thus taken, I think I shall 

 be near the truth if I say that on ordinary days a pint of water was 

 drunk. (No alcohol was taken in any form during these experiments, 

 and though I habitually take very little, it was my custom to abstain 

 entirely for several days before commencing an experiment.) 



On the days of exercise there was undoubtedly an increase in the 

 fluids ingested, for I allowed myself three pints of soda-water during 

 the day, and on more than one occasion I have suffered considerable 

 distress from the apparent insufficiency of this allowance. 



It is an accepted fact that under ordinary circumstances the inges- 

 tion of large quantities of fluid causes an increase in the nitrogen 

 eliminated by the urine, and possibly some of the increase which I 

 have observed on days of exercise may be due to this cause ; but con- 

 sidering the vast increase in the loss by the skin under such circum- 

 stances, I am inclined to regard the effect to be attributed to this 



